


Valediction

by Levottomuus



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bittersweet, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24593854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Levottomuus/pseuds/Levottomuus
Summary: ---Post-Epilogue---It's over. The survivors have a moment of respite as the boundaries that constricted them in one place are falling apart. And as the time to leave the grounds of the killing game draws near, Shuichi wants to tie up one loose end. Little does he know what that will entail...
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Valediction

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for the rather lengthy wait for another work, but summer semester exams have left me in a predicament. I will have passed half of them by the time this gets posted, but there's still a ways to go in this extended exam period.  
> Anyway, for a change of pace, a piece that celebrates less peripheral character pairings, why not? Well, without further ado, I wish you a pleasant read!

Even though the perpetrator of the earth-shattering impact had already disintegrated, the debris kept on crashing down unyieldingly upon the academy's ruined grounds in the wake of his self-imposed destruction. And there, among the countless piles of rubble and clouds of dust steadfastly stood three young souls, watching the aftershock of their classmate-turned-liberator's final moments; an odd juxtaposition of external tranquillity and inner turmoil intertwining in their unwavering, yet deeply scarred hearts. After all, Kiibo's selfless sacrifice was merely the last in a series of heartbreaks the trio had to endure to survive -- Yumeno losing her valued friends, Harukawa her first true love... and Saihara his ray of hope. However, in witnessing the unbreakable barrier crumble before their eyes, they all had the same notion in mind, one that soothed these tormenting aches... temporarily.

Despite all of that and against all odds, they lived. They won.

Saihara felt uneasy. Nervously stepping on the spot, he cleared his throat, attempting to catch the two lasses' attention; although it had the desired effect, he didn't expect the reaction to be so cold. Maki turned around sharply and furrowed her brow.  
"Either speak your mind, or remain silent..." she scowled him, "...now's no time to be indecisive." Her expression loosened up a bit as she looked -no, glared- at him, "There's something you want to do, isn't there, Saihara-kun? Go ahead. We'll be waiting for the wall to come down until there's an opening we can slip through. The last thing anyone would've wanted is for us to start climbing the ruins and fall to our death, now that this charade is finally over. So," she brushed her bangs from her forehead to the side, looking away, "If you have some unfinished business, there's your opportunity. Just don't get crushed by anything."  
Turning her back to Shuichi, she calmly resumed observing the barrier's pieces, how they slowly drop to the ground around the perimeter of the school. Himiko, who inconspicuously listened in on the exchange, lowered her shoulders and frustratingly exhaled before sitting down on the grass and raising his weary eyes to the hole in the sky.

Saihara wordlessly complied and left the two girls, making his way around various dilapidated structures to the remains of the dormitories. Even though the building was half collapsed, the entrance seemed to be intact; he didn't intend to spend too much time inside, anyway. He reached out for the handle to open the door, but the moment he grasped it and pushed forward, the whole door dislodged from its frame and crashed in front of him, which made him instinctively jump back. As if worried this ruckus was too loud, he reflexively glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone's coming towards him; upon assessing the coast is clear, his focus shifted back to the point of interest: his own room. Or, rather, what was left of it.

The entire back wall was torn off with one of Kiibo's energy blasts, so aside from the noticeable amount of rubble strewn across the floor, there was a pleasant opening to the grounds beyond the dorms, bustling with vegetation and some more concrete artefacts. That didn't seem to faze Shuichi, though. He immediately aimed for his target - the small nightstand next to his bed. There, resting inside a shelf was the item he was looking for - the black cap he had vowed to permanently leave behind after the first class trial. Even though he had no intention of wearing it, this one piece of clothing, this unassuming article of headwear was his last material memory of the one person he felt he owed the most. Yes, he remembered her words, her smile and ultimately, even her sacrifice, they were all etched into the deepest crevasse of his soul, but the cap was the physical manifestation of the promise he made to her.

Akamatsu Kaede.

He wouldn't admit it easily, but she was always in his thoughts. With every discovery, every investigation, every trial and every execution, his mind raced back to the dreadful moment when he saw her for the last time. Desperate and powerless. As he drifted back to those unwelcoming, painful emotions, an idea suddenly sprung up.  
"Maybe... there's something _she_ left behind..." he murmured to himself, questioning the morality of that train of thought; a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he tried to justify succumbing to his curiosity and attempting to inspect her room. "I know I shouldn't, but... I need to know." Reaffirming his decision, he clutched the cap and hastily paced out of his room, never stopping to close it up, instead, he marched straight in front of the door to Kaede's room. And there, he stopped.

The uneasiness amplified. He scouted every little detail of that monotone, bland entrance with great care; the dents and blows to the frame, the dislocated lock, probably damaged by a blast wave, and the slanted portrait of his late friend above the door, with the security glass cracked. It reminded him of the exceedingly improbable, even surreal experience he had to endure to stand there. His resolve strengthened. His conviction was unwavering. And so, the black-haired detective timidly opened the way to his destination... and just as quickly he found it in himself to make the move, his strength vanished. His lips quivered as he scanned the environs, every single sight and smell reminding him of the woeful fate that had befallen their former inhabitant. It was almost as if she never left, for that intense were the sensations Shuichi felt, and all the anguish the Ultimate Detective attempted to suppress began welling up within him, ready to burst and shatter him into a million unrecognisable pieces.

"Akamatsu-san..."

Saihara felt a sharp sting in his chest, followed by a hollow pain. There was nary a thing that wouldn't cause the young man to recoil, for each and every one pulled him back on a trip down memory lane. The pale pink sweater she wore. The sheet notes she used to play. The backpack she carried on her back. Even the music note pins she always decorated her unkempt blonde hair with. All these images flashed in front of Shuichi, as if he was reliving them once again... and then the abrupt end. The memory he dreaded the most. Shutting his eyes close, he staggered back, hitting the wall next to the exit and covering his face in his palms.  
"Forgive me..." Shuichi whispered, he rested against the wall with his eyes to the ceiling as he leaned his arms beside his body to support himself. Swallowing a lump that formed in his throat, the boy wistfully took note of the reminiscent items once more, and ultimately locked his sight onto a single piece of paper that was laid on the Ultimate Pianist's desk. Despite the distance, he could discern the handwriting easily, and decided to take a closer look at the sheet.

"Huh..?"

Saihara bewilderingly widened his gaze as he read the title of the note.

-To Shuichi-

"To... me? But why?" the black clad detective asked himself as his inherent curiosity overtook his main senses. He took the letter in his hand from the desk and indulged in reading its entirety.

\---

Hey. I don't exactly know what to say here. If you're reading this, then my plan must have failed, and something happened to me. That's okay. I know the risk. It's not that I wouldn't trust your judgement, but... this won't end simply by finding out who the mastermind is. No, we have to make sure they will never slip out again. And for that reason, I have to do what I'm about to do. Please, don't hold yourself responsible. I want everyone to get out of here safely, and if it means breaking your trust and taking matters into my own hands... I'll do it. No one else can do it. So, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry, Saihara-kun. I'm really, really sorry. And... thank you.

P.S.: The time we spent together in the last few days... if it comes to be my final encore, I will forever cherish it. And only because of you... Shuichi.

Yours truly,  
Kaede

\---

Saihara's shoulders started trembling. As he voiced the remaining words of the post scriptum in his head, the thin thread holding his bottled emotions at bay finally snapped. Just like when he was forced to face the truth at the despairing trial that day, tears started to flood his eyes and soon streamed down his cheeks, falling to the cold floor. The Ultimate Detective's legs gave way, and he fell backwards to land beside Kaede's bed. As he sat there against its frame, Shuichi cried his heart out like never before.  
"If only you had told me... I would have found a different way... any way... Even if it meant losing myself..." his voice trailed off as he clutched the dampened note in his hand, shaking uncontrollably.  
"Why you..? Out of everyone else... why did I have to lose you..?" Saihara wailed, as his uniform grew even darker in the shallow light of the room. There was but silence for a response, and he knew it. The answers he sought would never reach his ears, just like the tone of Akamatsu's voice.  
  
"I miss you so much, Akamatsu-san..."

The boy closed himself from the world, and time stood still for him. He felt like nothing could reach him now, and so he sat there in the small, almost claustrophobic space between the desk and the bed, weeping for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, the sobs grew weaker, and as he finally raised his head, it was apparent that even the detective's tears have run out. There was nothing left to give. He stared into the empty contours of the desk as he softly spoke, cords strained from the shallow and ragged breaths he took:  
"It wasn't your fault... but mine. I wasn't vigilant enough. And because of that, you're gone..." Pausing briefly, Shuichi struggled to stand up, knees still weak, but straightened himself, and then solemnly glanced at the crumpled note in his possession.

"But you knew I wouldn't be strong enough, even though you wanted to help me. And only because I was so weak, I couldn't let go, and that led me here. If I were stronger, I would never have found this... I'm the one who should apologise here. If it wasn't for my uncertainty and anxiety, you wouldn't have tried to help me, and we would have never got close... and you would have never had to write this letter. Still..." he continued in his monologue, hoping it may reach her wherever she was, "thanks to you, I realised what I've been missing. Now, I can set out to become the seeker of the truth you wished me to be. I won't run anymore. I won't turn away from the truth, no matter how devastating it is. Even if it's beset by lies..." Shuichi hesitated, momentarily thinking about what the mastermind claimed about Kaede's past and her true nature, but he quickly regained his composure, "...or shrouded in mystery, I will find it. But, then... I, well..."

\- "Saihara."

The raven-haired boy looked behind himself to find both Yumeno and Harukawa standing in the doorway. He felt his cheeks immediately catch a flush of red, and hastily turned back to face away from the girls, dumbstruck. Maki somewhat condescendingly smiled and dryly remarked: "Saihara-kun, you should know better than to hide your feelings from us. Especially now, after what happened, I reckon there is no reason to do so," and Himiko energetically interjected: "Saihara! We both know how ya feel. I can never tell Angie or Tenko what I really thought about them, and Maki couldn't even get herself to give Kaito her goodbyes. But I'm sure they all know that now. I told the two a thousand times using my magic, and I overheard Maki call K-"

Shuichi suddenly heard Himiko's voice being muffled by something, and as he turned to face his two classmates again, his eyes shot out as he found Maki to be smothering the tiny magician's face with Kaede's pillow.  
"Pretend you haven't heard a word from the last sentence, or you might find yourself to be silenced as well," exclaimed Maki calmly with an icy cold glare on her otherwise composed face. Before Shuichi could voice a complaint, the assassin swiftly freed Himiko from her constriction, who pierced her classmate through with a stare of her own while grumbling and fixing her hat, and then resumed: "Then again, for what it's worth, Yumeno-san is correct. I'm also certain Momota-kun knows how I feel about him... even if I cannot tell him face to face. So, I presume you can deduce the rest yourself."

The young man nodded nervously. "I do, Harukawa-san. Yumeno-san. Thank you both," he said as he closed his eyes and slightly twitched from embarrassment, knowing his parting words have an unwanted audience. The long-haired brunette made a meaningful pause before adding:“Let your heart speak out, Saihara-kun.” Shuichi responded with another nod, cleared his throat and solemnly looked at the letter for one last time.

"Before I go, there's one more thing. Beside the courage to face my fear of the truth, you've given me something else. Something unexpected and invaluable. I didn't want to believe such a thing could happen under these awful circumstances, but returning here has only affirmed that feeling in me. A part of me doesn't want to leave because of it, but I understand full well you wouldn't have it any other way, so... Even if I can't tell you from eye to eye, I can't hold it in me any longer. Akamatsu-san... no, Kaede...

...I love you."

Beet red, Saihara's sight darted at his two friends; the Ultimate Magician couldn't hide her bashful smile and teary eyes, and the Ultimate Assassin had a satisfied look on her face. Without a word, she stepped out of the room and the building, leaving only Shuichi and Himiko standing face to face, and the red-haired girl dashed towards the Ultimate Detective and wrapped her short arms around his back.  
"Now she knows, too. And just like Angie, Tenko and Kaito, she will never forget. So promise you won't forget her either, Shuichi. Or I'll turn ya into a toad..." Himiko cutely chuckled as she held the boy, who returned the embrace and smiled. "I wouldn't dare, Yumeno-san. Not in a million years."  
Then, without a spell, the magician let go, turned on her heels and skipped out of the room seemingly in high spirits, leaving him in there by his lonesome yet again. Shuichi noticed his cap lying on the bedside floor. Picking it up, he gave it a long, hard look before making up his mind. He walked up to the nightstand and carefully placed it atop it, and in return, he took the pianist's hairpin and put it in his chest pocket.

"You deserve to have something to remember me by, too. Rest easy, Kaede-san. I will hold you in my heart, forever.  
  
Farewell."

Walking out of the dormitories, he noticed both Maki and Himiko were nowhere to be seen. He traced his steps back the way he came to the housing accommodations in the first place, arriving at the familiar boulder formation, but there were no signs of them, either. Shuichi then took a passing glance at the crumbling dome's opening, and his eyes struck two familiar figures by the base of it... right in front of a spot where the wall was breached all the way to the ground level. Picking up the pace, he ran towards the pair ahead, and not long after, the two have let the tardy detective join their side. "You could have waited-"  
\- "Nonsense. We could have been on our way fifteen minutes ago, but we couldn't get a hold of you. So, we searched, and found you in the dorms. We don't need to waste any more time here..." said Maki in monotone, with Himiko in tow: "Let's go, Shuichi. The world can't wait any longer for my amazing magic!"

The boy nodded in retort. "Alright. No time to spare." Turning back one last time, he smiled, putting a hand over his heart, holding Kaede's pin within. "Everyone, we did it. For you... we'll soldier on." As he rejoined the two girls in tandem, Shuichi felt at peace. At last, the real world was theirs to explore.  
  


"Before I forget, Saihara-kun... you do realise the consequences of breaking into a girl's room, correct?"  
\- "Wait! I-I can explain! Harukawa-san, let me explain!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for getting to the end of this fic! I hope it was enjoyable, and I would love to read your thoughts and/or critique below. Apart from that, I wish you a great day!


End file.
